Process and apparatus for treating petroleum oil



I R. cRoss 1,841,363 7 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING PETROLEUM O ILJan. 19, 1932.

Filed July 22, 1922 Y IM W.

Patented" Jan, 19,; 1932 UNITED STATES PA-TENTOFFICE ROY CROSS, OFKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI,

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

GASOLINE PRODUCTS COMRANX, ING., OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORA-TION OF DELAWARE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING PETROLEUM OILApplication filed July 22,

tion prevented. To provide a process in which the charging stock issubjected to a preheating action before being introduced to the heatingzone and conversion in the reacting chamber promoted subsequent toheating by the raising of the temperature of the oil during digestion byinternal heating of the oil bodies. To provide a process in whichsubsequentto heating, the oil is collected and permitted to accumulatein a rel- I atively enlarged body where additional heat a is added topromote the conversion reaction,

substantially the-same pressure being held upon both the heating andreacting stages.

To provide a process in which a yield of high quality distillate may beobtained and one in which there is a substantial saving in the fuelnecessary to produce conversion of the oil, and a process which may beoperated continuously over a considerable period of time, and one inwhich a large quantity of oil may be treated, and to provide aparticular type of apparatus for carrying out the process.

The single figure isadiagrammatic side elevational view of the apparatuswith parts in section. a Referring to the drawing, the oil to be treatedis introduced through the line 1 controlled by the valve 2 and may beeither charged to the tank 3 in which the preheating coil 4 ispositioned, 01 by-passed through the line 5 controlled by the valve 6and charged directly to the draw-off line 7 which leads from the tank 3and connects with the suction side of the pump 8. The oil after being ina liquid phase and substantial vaporiza- 1922. Serial No. 576,660.

either circulated through the preheating tank or charged directly to thepump is fed to the heating coil '9 mounted in the furnace 10. The oilwhich is circulated through" the furnace 10 is raised to a conversiontemperature under pressure, and is thence passed through the transferline 11 in which is interposed the valve 12 to the reactingchamber 13,which is equipped with a thermometer 14 and a pressure gauge 15. Herethe 'oil is permitted to collect in an enlarged body and the conversionwhich'takes place under high pressure is caused to progress while theoil is maintained in substantially a liquid phase. The oil travelthrough the heatin chamber time to assume an equilibrium or a sta lerearrangement of the therein. I

This rearrangement produces what may be termed as a synthetic crudecontaining an increased percentage of low boiling point oils which maybe easily extracted by redistillation. To promote and enhance theconversion and reaction which takes place in the oil body in thereaction chamber, there is positioned thereina conductor 16 connected tothe wire terminals 17 and 18. The conductoris of resistance materialwhich when an electric current is passed therethrough is raised to hightemperature, thus the temperature of p 1 the oil body in thereactingchamber may be carefully regulated to the most advantageoustemperatures for cracking. The oil after conversion is drawn off throughthe-line 19 which is regulated by the .valve 20, and after passingthrough the preheating coil 4 it is directed to the transfer line 21 inwhich is interposed a throttle valve 22, and is thence passed to acooling coil 23 mounted 'in the tank 24.

The oil after being cooled is passed through the line 25 controlled bythe valve 26 to the gas separator 27 from which the gas is drawn offthrough the valve 28 and the liquid synthetic crude through the line 29regulated by the valve 30. -From the gas separator the liquid is passedto the storage tank 31 from which it is withdrawn to be redistilled orretreated in order to extract the low boiling. point oils therefrommolecular bodies 65 is relatively slow, and it has there ore ,am le Inoperating the process gas oil, kerosene bottoms or other cracking stockis charged to the heating zone and there raised to a conversiontemperature, which will vary according to the oils treated. Temperaturesfrom 600 to 900 F. are usual.

The oil in the heated stage is passed to the reacting chamber 13, whereit is permitted to collect, and digest.

At this time the addition of heat supplied by'the conductor 16 serves topromote materially the conversion or digestion which takes place in thereacting chamber.

The chamber is insulated against loss of heat, and substantially thesame pressure is maintained upon both the heating coil and thereactingchamber. The pressure necessary to maintain the oil insubstantial liquid phase during conversion will range 750 pounds andupward.

It will be noted that there is no vaporization or distillationpermitted, that is the separation of the oil vapors from the liquid oil,and what vapors are formed, are to a considerable extent in the form ofincondensable gas which is employed in maintaining the high pressuresupon the system. The liquid oil and vaporous constituents are passedthrough the single drawofi line 19 and sufficient pressure held on theoil during the circulation of the oils through the preheating coil tomaintain the oil in substantially liquid phase. r

This permits of a better heat transfer to the .incoming charging stockwhich is circulated about the coil. The pressures maintained in thepreheating coil are regulated by means of valves 20 and 22. On beingwithdrawn from the preheating coil, the pressure is released 2. Aprocess for treating oil, consisting in raising the oil to a crackingtemperature in a heating coil, passing the heated oil to an enlargedreaction stage without distillation, maintaining aosubstantial pressureupon the heating and reaction stages and adding heat internally of the"oil body undergoing conversion in the reaction stage by electricalheating elements to promote decomposition thereof and the formation oflighter products, discharging the converted products at a reducedpressure.

3. A process for treating oil comprising raising the oil to a crackingtemperature in a heating coil, passing the heated oil to an enlargedreaction chamber from which no substantial distillation takes place,maintaining substantially the same pressure on the heating and reactionstages, and electrically adding heat internally of the oil body in thereaction chamber to promote cracking thereof.

4. A process for converting oil comprising raising the oil to acracln'ng temperature in a heating coil, passing the heated oil to anenlarged reaction chamber, imposing a pressure on the coil-and chambersuflicient to maintain the oil in substantially liquid phase,electrically adding heat internally of the oil body in the chamber topromote cracking, discharging oil from the chamber into a cooling stageand utilizing the heat of the discharged oil in the cooling stage topreheat oil introduced to the heating coil.

ROY CROSS.

and the oil permitted to pass through the cooling coil at substantiallyatmospheric pressure or slightly difierent.

After being. subjected to the cooling action,

the synthetic crude is passed through the gas separator where theincondensable gas is removed, and the liquid passed to the storage tank31. From the storage tank it may be withdrawn, and redistilled to removethe low boiling point oils.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for treating oil the combination with a continuouscoil for raising the oil to a conversion temperature, of an enlargedreacting chamber connected therewith, a single draw-ofi' line therefrom,cooling means, including means for preheating the charging stock,connected to the reacting chamber by said single drawofi' line, a

pressure control means posterior to the cooling means for controllingthe pressure on the system and an electrical heating element in thereacting chamber adapted to maintain the oil undergoing conversiontherein ata predetermined temperature at or above that to which the oilwas raised in the heating means.

